A player has leveled up their character in The Elder Scrolls Online in a special way. They didn’t kill a single enemy and peacefully reached max level.
What happened? The reddit user TheMillionthOne posted a screenshot showing their character in ESO and their achievements.
It is evident that they reached the regular max level of 50 without killing a single opponent. That was also their goal, as they set two rules for this special journey:
- They were not allowed to kill any opponents and had to keep the counter at 0.
- They were not allowed to group up with other players to let them kill enemies for them.
For their adventure, they only roamed in the original world of One Tamriel. How long exactly it took is unknown. They only say that they wanted to start “around Christmas.”
In their thread, they also apologize to the EU players they encountered in the meantime. They might have wondered why they were spamming stealth or running away from enemies instead of helping in combat.
Additionally, they occasionally seized the chance to loot a chest while another player was fighting a boss. They regret that too.
Sneaking and stealthing instead of fighting and killing
How did they do it? In their thread, the player mentions that there are surprisingly many quests that are not necessarily tied to killing.
- They repeatedly encountered tasks that could also be completed by sneaking and using stealth. Some bosses don’t actually need to be defeated because the objective is just behind them.
- Side quests notably played an important role. In the story, however, there were often kill tasks that they had to abandon.
- Besides quests, they also completed some crafting dailies and explored a lot.
They also benefited from the New Year’s buff in ESO. This runs until January 5 and brings not only double XP but also the last chance to obtain the mount Indrik.
They played as a Wood Elf with the Nightblade class and a Magicka build using a healing staff. They also opted for medium armor to improve their speed. In hindsight, they feel that Khajiit would be better suited as they have a racial skill that includes invisibility.
What problems did they encounter on their adventure? While questing, there were repeatedly frustrating moments when the player got discovered and had to run away. There were also tasks that seemed like they didn’t require any killing, but in the end, they had to abandon the quest because they couldn’t progress without a kill.
Another problem with this playstyle is that they cannot experience the game’s story. Most achievements are also denied to them.
Additionally, there is almost no new equipment. Without kills, there was little loot or currency. Thus, they only roam around in the disguise of a servant because their gear is “patched together.”
What’s the craziest thing that happened to them? At one point, the player had a quest where they thought their attempt had already failed:
At one point, I did a quest and was tasked to burn some slave tents. “Hell yes,” I shouted to no one in particular, “no more tents for you!”
Immediately afterward, an animation of a slave trader played, screaming and running out on fire. This is referred to as “Oopsie” in pacifist circles.
However, it turned out that the dead character does not officially count as a kill, at least for achievements.
MeinMMO author Larissa Then conducted another experiment in ESO. Instead of questing, she grinded to reach max level. And she surprisingly enjoyed it:
I always thought grinding is boring – But in ESO, leveling is really fun
